By Jane Chanda
Former Attorney General Musa Mwenye has urged Justice minister Princess Kasune, Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha and Zambia’s High Commissioner to Australia Elias Munshya to work towards enacting progressive as opposed to the divisive Bill 7.
And the PF argued that they will not fall for President Hakainde Hichilema’s gimmick, while urging him to stop the victimhood of using hailing “from a certain region” as the reason people have rejected the bill.
TIZ said they recognised the positive step but at the same time remain cautious about how this will now play out.”
In his remarks following President Hakainde Hichilema’s directive to Kasune to defer Bill 7 for to allow more consultations, Mwenye commended the President, welcoming the move as progressive, as backtracking on wrongs was a strength and not weakness.
But Mwenye at the same time rebuked Kasune, Kabesha and Munshya among others.
“Honourable Minister of Justice, Learned Attorney General, Amb. Elias Munshya and your teams, We are available to help – please let’s work together to devise progressive laws and not retrogressive and divisive bill 7’s,” stated Mwenye.
But the PF argued that they will not fall for President Hichilema’s gimmick on his decision to defer Bill 7.
Party chairperson for information and publicity Emmanuel Mwamba stated that the decision by President Hichilema to direct Kasune to defer Bill 7 comes after serious backlash and after widespread rejection of the proposed constitutional amendments.
‘However, we must remain alert and not fall for this gimmick,” Mwamba stated.
He stated that the proposed constitutional amendments must be abandoned as there was no adequate time to establish public consensus as general elections were near an sadly the process had been driven by the President and his UPND party instead of a process led by the people.
“We wish to warn that the deferment is not well-intentioned and remain a trick up his sleeves as shown by similar gesture in the recent past,” Mwamba stated.
He stated that Zambians must remember that President Hichilema did the same to the Cyber Crimes and Cyber Security Bills purporting that they needed wide consultation only for the bills to be reintroduced and quickly passed as law without due regard to any public and stakeholders’ concerns.
“We also wish to register serious concerns regarding the remarks made by the President when he met some civil society grouping where he alleged that he had noted that his policies and constitutional proposals are vehemently met with serious and unjustified opposition because he is a “pariah ” and because he comes from a certain region,’ Mwamba stated.
He stated that these remarks were unfortunate and the victim-hood posture he assumed was dangerous as it was not based on the truth.
Mwamba stated that the cyber laws, the proposed constitutional-making process and the sale of Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) were opposed because they did not meet minimum public consultations, or publicly accepted processes and consultations.
He stated that the President must desist from making tribal or regional statements that served only to divide the country or continue to polarise the divide, threatening national unity.
But Transparency International Zambia(TIZ) has commended President Hichilema for deferring Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 7 of 2025, citing the need for broader consultations with various stakeholders, including civil society.
In an interview with Daily Revelation yesterday, TIZ executive director Moris Nyambe said the decision was a progressive step that gave an opportunity for further engagement.
He said this was a progressive step which certainly gave stakeholders an opportunity to further engage with the process and the hope was that ultimately there would be some consensus that was availed in terms of what needed to happen altimately.
He said the deferment allowed TIZ and others to further engage with the process and highlight concerns regarding the process and content of the bill.
Asked if he would take this as the President bowing down to public pressure, and if it was a gimmick in terms of trying to create a semblance of public consultations like he did over the cyber laws, Nyambe responded: “But that’s why I speak about still having concerns about the process and content. We recognise the positive step but at the same time are cautious about how this will now play out.”
